LAST-DITCH EFFORT UNDER WAY TO EXPAND CUP FUNDING

Staffs of the five Utah members of Congress met Tuesday with officials of the Central Utah Water Conservancy District in a last-ditch attempt to work out a compromise bill to expand the authorized size of the project.

The project's cost will exceed its $2.2 billion authorization before it is completed, sometime in the 1990s.Rep. Wayne Owens, D-Utah, is expected to introduce a new version of the bill later this week when he returns from a House committee trip to the Middle East. Owens' measure would cut $200 million from the $754 million he recommended in a bill introduced late last year.

The Republican members want to keep most of the money Central Utah Project officials have estimated it would cost to finish the entire project.